For more than 6 years now this column has been promoting our very own coconut products including but not limited to virgin coconut oil (VCO), coconut sugar, coconut flour, and coconut juice more popularly known as coconut water.
Coconut water or coconut juice is simply the clear watery liquid found inside a fresh coconut. Coconut water is not the same as coconut milk. The latter is obtained by extracting the juice out of coconut milk. Coconut milk is thick and creamy while the coconut juice/coconut water is clear and watery.
I have been drinking coconut water/coconut juice blended with coconut milk every morning for the past 5 years or so. It’s a fantastic beverage, full of fantastic nutrients. Fantastic taste, too… especially the coconut water/coconut juice coming from the green young coconuts. Coconut water/coconut juice does not only possess anti-aging properties but fights cancer, helps balance blood sugar, reduces risk of heart disease, aids in kidney functions and dissolves kidney stones and wards off other diseases as well as it enhances our immunity system.
Let me share with you an interesting story narrated in the book Coconut Water for health and healing by Dr. Bruce Fife:
“More recently I ran across an interesting incident which dramatically illustrates the potential benefit coconut water may have in treating cataract.
“We discovered this by accident while on a cruise ship (years ago). A few of us were on an island day trip and wanted to get off the beaten tourist’s path so we hired a bus and driver to take us to the opposite side of the island (only 10 of us on that big bus). A man and his wife were taking the cruise as a sort last hoorah before her scheduled cataract surgery, we later found out.
Anyway, there was a beautiful beach with coconuts laying everywhere and we got thirsty, but there was no drinking water. So we decided to open up some coconut to quench our dry throats. We found a local with a big machete and through sign language we convinced him to open coconuts for us. The woman with the cataracts got splashed in one eye by the coconut juice, and it burned a bit.
We were all digging through everything we had for something to relieve her eye ‘injury.’ All we came up with was one moist washcloth. Her husband wiped her eye and placed the washcloth over it. About 10 minutes later she announced we should head back to the ship. We did. The next morning at breakfast she said that her eye was much better and that she could see very well.
We examined her eye closely and could not see any signs of the cataract, which was quite obvious the day before. She said she wished she had gotten splashed in both eyes. Then the idea dawned on us to ‘splash’ her other eye. We did that very day as soon as we got ashore and also repeated the other eye too. This time we were prepared.
We went to the local market, grabbed a coconut, opened it, and strained it through a washcloth into a plastic cup, dribbled the juice into both eyes, placed a warm washcloth over both eyes, waited 10 minutes, and the rest is history. She went to her MD upon returning stateside – no cataracts and no surgery!
“What is it in coconut water that may have an effect on cataracts? Coconut water contains antioxidants as well as magnesium, potassium and other minerals and enzymes which may un-denature or relax the lens proteins, allowing them to realign and become transparent again.”
Coconut water/coconut juice has been called the ‘fluid of life.’ Not many know that coconut water/coconut juice has been used as an intravenous solution. During World War II, coconut water/coconut juice were used as IV solutions when the commercial IV solutions were not available.
By the way, the coconut tree from where coconut water/coconut juice comes from grows on about 11.6 million hectares in eighty-six (86) countries. With a total production of forty-nine (49) billion nuts. Coconut tree is a tropical crop that is widely distributed in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific region.
The shares of coconut growing countries are as follows: Indonesia (25.7%); Philippines (23.2%); India (23%); Sri Lanka (4.4%); and others (23.7%). In the Philippines sixty-eight (68) out of the seventy-nine (79) provinces are coconut-growing areas.
Finally, should you wish to know more about coconut water/coconut juice and other coconut products as well, please read the 550-page book titled Coconut Philippines; size 9×12; containing 1,300 colored pictures and illustrations authored by Lalaine Villafuerte-Abonal, the only Philippine exporter of coconut sugar, syrup and vinegar that are certified organic by the US-DA (Department of Agriculture).
Aside from the fact that her exporting entity is Kosher Certified and Carbon Neutral Certified.
Yes, our coconut products are gaining tremendous international interests nowadays as the world gets more health conscious.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
